Former Laker and current Houston forward Trevor Ariza may have blurted out lines that he might regret in the future. According to TMZ, Ariza was caught on tape saying that he thinks he can beat Michael Jordan on a 1-on-1 game. Ariza was in Los Angeles when he was asked if who would win if he will square it off with the NBA legend. He quickly returned the question and said "I'd better be able to beat him 1 on 1 right now."
This statement can put Ariza on a much compromised position as the 52-year-old basketball legend is known to react to these types of challenges as part of his very competitive nature. The hall of fame inductee has once saidthat he would not hesitate to come back and play if he is challenged, regardless of his age.
There were previous challengers who tried but miserably lost to Air Jordan's greatness. One notable challenge is with former high school player and now NBA star OJ Mayo. Yahoo wrote on the incident and said that it happened during his Airness' annual Flight School camp. Mayo, back then, was the hottest prospect to enter the league because of accolades as a young player.
Jordan recollected on the event and said that while playing, the young Mayo starts to say "You can't guard me, you can't do this." Jordan, who is known to be one of the league's biggest trash talkers, came back at Mayo and said "Look you may be the best high school player, but I am the best player in the world."
From that point ,it was a lesson that Mayo will carry for the rest of his life.
The 5-time Finals MVP was also challenged that ultimately forced him to come back during his first retirement. Also in his James Naismith Hall of Fame induction speech, Jordan sighted that during a camp, he was spotted by the then Utah Jazz guard Byron Russell in casual clothes. Russell then jabbed Jordan that if and when he will see him in basketball shorts, he will defend and potentially embarrass him.
After that particular challenge, Jordan went back to the NBA and won another 3 consecutive championships, ironically his last championship with the Chicaco Bulls came off a winning basket against his challenger Byron Russell.
